Warmth and Safety (You'll Always Have Me)
by dreaminginglitter
Summary: Unexpected conversations can have unexpected results. Turns out, Spencer and Emily have one such conversation one night. One-Shot.


On a rainy November night, Spencer Hastings parked her car outside The Brew in Rosewood. She had been back before, of course, but she realized it had really been about five years since she and her friends spent any significant amount of time here. Rosewood was her home, where she grew up. But the town had also held a lot of painful memories, things she wished she could forget.

Getting out of her car, she began to walk towards The Brew, fully intending on getting a coffee. She knew she shouldn't have coffee considering it was around 7 PM, but she just wanted something familiar and comforting. She grabbed the door handle, ready to pull it open.

"S-Spencer?" A small voice called out to her, and sounded shaky. Wait. She recognized that voice, and it sounded like...

"Emily?" Spencer asked as she turned, seeing none other than Emily Fields sitting on a bench. Though it was dark, through the dim light of street lights, Spencer could see Emily had been shaking and sobbing. She wore a black leather jacket, a red shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. It wasn't hard to see that Emily had been soaking wet from the rain either, her hair was sticking to her face. She had looked like she had just gotten out of a pool or something.

"Oh my god, Em, you must be freezing! Come on, let's get into my car, it should still be pretty warm." Spencer told her friend, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to help Emily up. Emily tried to speak, but all that came out of her mouth was another sob. Instead, she mutely nodded, leaning against Spencer for strength as they got inside the car.

"What's wrong, Em? The first time I see you in years, you're sitting outside, crying in the rain, without a coat or anything...that isn't like you," Spencer said, looking at Emily. Spencer knew Rosewood made absolutely no sense, but even she was shocked at randomly seeing Emily. Sure, they had kept up with each other through texts and social media, but what were the chances of them running into each other like this?

Through shaky breathes, Emily replied, "Spence, listen...can w-we go somewhere to talk? I walked here, and I...I just need a friend." She shivered as she finished her sentence.

"Of course we can. But here, put on my jacket, I'm wearing a sweater underneath. You look so cold." Emily accepted Spencer jacket and put it on, noticing that it smelled like perfume. It reminded Emily of high school and how close they all used to be. She closed her eyes as she felt the car move and wondered how she was going to explain herself.

Spencer's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, mostly of concern pertaining to Emily. They drove in silence as Spencer tried to figure out just what was going on. She didn't have to wait long though because they had arrived at their destination: her parent's house.

"Emily," Spencer said gently, putting her had on the tan woman's shoulder. "We're here. My parents are letting me stay." She explained as they got out of the car and walked toward the house together, memories coming to mind for them both.

Walking into the kitchen and turning on the lights, Spencer spoke again. "You can go upstairs and borrow some of my clothes, if you want." Saying a quick "thank you", Emily went upstairs to change into something dry.

Deciding to make hot chocolate for the two of them, Spencer quickly made two cups and topped them with mini marshmallows as Emily walked back downstairs, wearing a tank top and shorts. Sitting the cups on the coffee table, Spencer sat down on the couch and Emily joined her, looking nervous. Out of habit, Spencer draped a blanket across them both, somehow sensing it would help Emily feel better.

"Okay Em, I have to ask you again...what's wrong, you don't look good," Spencer said, looking into Emily's brown eyes with an expression of concern on her face. She hadn't seen Emily this upset since Maya died all those years ago, and she was worried as hell.

"Well...it's so hard, being back in Rosewood. You know as well as I do that we went through enough traumatic shit for a life time. Everywhere I look in this town, I just have flashbacks to how hard it all was with 'A' and everything. Nobody but the four of us really understand what it was like. Hanna's busy with fashion in France, Aria's busy with being an author, and you're busy with law stuff. So...it's really like I'm all alone. It doesn't help that Paige and I broke up." She grabbed a mug full of hot chocolate and drank some in an attempt to quiet the emotions that were bubbling up inside of her.

Silence hung in the air between the two women as Spencer thought about what was said. She and Emily were always honest with each other.

"Emily, you're not alone, you have me. I know my life has been crazy busy with work and stuff, but I'll always make time for you, you mean too much to not be in my life. And I know what it's like to be broken up with, too. Toby and I broke up a few years ago since we just turned into different people than we used to be."

"I can't really blame Paige for breaking up with me. I pushed her away because even though she tried, she just couldn't understand the things the four of us went through. I just wanted to feel safe. I feel safe with you, Spence," Emily softly admitted, looking at Spencer with tears welling up in her eyes again.

"That's because you are safe with me, I promise. You're not alone, Em, I understand what it feels like." Spencer brought the other woman to lay her head on her shoulder, the hot chocolates forgotten on the table. All she wanted right now was to make Emily feel as loved as she deserved to be.

If Spencer were honest with herself, she supposed the reason why she had cared so deeply for Emily was because she had loved her. She loved all of her friends, of course, but Emily was special. It wasn't like they were in high school anymore.

"Spence? Do you ever feel like you're right back where we were in high school, being hurt by 'A"?"

"Yes. It doesn't take much. I'll have a nightmare or hear my phone buzz and it's like I'm right back there. It's so easy to feel scared and alone. I've never forgotten what it was like to be in that dollhouse. I have a feeling because you asked about it that you still feel the same?"

"Yeah." Emily sighed, feeling the weight of all her feelings crush her again. Part of her feelings, she knew, was that she had romantic feelings for Spencer. Spencer probably wouldn't ever return her feelings though, and it hurt to know that. She just had to accept her as a friend and nothing more. Thinking of this, she began to sob again, finally not running away from her feelings anymore.

Hearing Emily cry was the worst. It was like twisting a tiny knife in Spencer's heart and she just wished she could make Emily's bad feelings disappear. She felt tears well up in her own eyes and as much as she tried to stop them, the tears fell from her eyes anyway. Not only for all that they had been through together, but for all that she wished she and Emily could be.

Emily sat up, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry to ask, Spencer, but do you have anything to eat? I haven't really eaten all day, so..." She trailed off, looking down at her feet.

"Yeah, of course," Spencer replied, getting up and walking towards the fridge. She spotted a box of pizza in the freezer. "Is pizza okay? Pepperoni and cheese."

"Sure."

As Spencer started to pre-heat the oven, Emily looked around the living room. She noticed a Christmas tree in the corner of the room, decorated with white lights. She smiled and said "Your parents decorate early, not that I mind. You know how much I love Christmas." Of course Spencer knew that, it was one of the many things she loved about Emily.

"It's kinda nice, I admit." Spencer returned to the couch after putting the pizza in the oven, sitting next to Emily again.

Nervously, Emily considered her options for confessing her feelings. She could tell Spencer and it could ruin everything. She certainly didn't want that, she had been friends with Spencer for most of her life and would never want to throw something so special away.

Spencer also considered her options for confessing her feelings. She was a Hastings, dammit, she was supposed to be logical! She supposed love didn't really have many logical feelings, it simply was.

"Emily-"

"Spencer-"

They had both spoken at the same time. They smiled at each other, with Spencer speaking first.

"You go first, Emily."

"Okay, well...I know this whole night has been weird. But I think the reason I feel so safe with you, the reason I called out to you, is because...I love you, Spence. Not just in a "best friends forever" kind of way, either...I mean really love you, like romantically. But I totally understand if you don't feel the same way about me, its fine, I'll get over it, I'll-" She stopped speaking as Spencer moved in closer, closing the gap between them.

As quickly as Emily saw Spencer heading into The Brew earlier in the evening, here they were kissing. Spencer's lips felt soft and warm against her own, and she felt the other woman, her longtime friend, smiling. They gently broke apart and Spencer spoke softly, tucking a piece of hair behind Emily's ear for her.

"Does that answer your question about my feelings for you?" Spencer asked, watching Emily slowly nod and smile. "Good, be cause the truth is, I have feelings for you, too. I've always wanted to protect you and keep you safe. It hurt my heart so much to watch you lose Maya and know that there wasn't anything I could do to ease your pain."

"Losing Maya was so hard. But as painful as it was, you were there for me, just like you've always been there."

"And I always will be there for you, which is why I ask..." Spencer started, looking t Emily with love in her eyes, "will you be my girlfriend?"

"Isn't that moving kind of fast? There's a reason why there's the lesbian with a U-Haul joke," Emily laughed.

"Emily, since when does anything in our lives ever make sense?"

"You make a good point. In that case, yes, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

The oven made a ding noise, telling them that the pizza was done. They both laughed together. Emily got up and grabbed two plates, getting the pizza out of the oven. She cut the pizza and set a plate in front of Spencer with two slices of pizza on it.

"Spencer Hastings, will you go on a pizza date with me?" Emily smiled as she said this, watching Spencer return her smile. After the emotional time that was earlier, it felt good to smile.

"Of course I will, I thought you'd never ask."

As they happily ate the pizza, both women really thought about what had taken place over the past few hours. Neither one would have predicted that it's how this day would turn out, but they were both very happy about it.

Emily was the one to break the comfortable silence. "Thank you for all of this, Spence. I never would have thought things would turn out this way, especially today. I know it might be tough to figure out where to go from here, but I'm happy to at least know we have mutual feelings for each other."

"Trust me, Em, I'm happy too." Spencer smiled back.

After finishing their pizza, the women hugged one each other, this hug being longer than the last. Emily broke the hug and put her head on Spencer's shoulder again, this time holding Spencer's hand as she did so.

"All that really matters is that, through it all, we have each other. You're safe with me and I'm safe with you. We'll face the world together now."

"Together. I love you, Emily." Spencer said, placing a kiss on Emily's head. "It feels different saying that knowing we have romantic feelings for each other, but I like it. It's something I could get used to quickly."

"I feel the same. I love you, Spencer."

They both knew they had a lot to figure out, but they took comfort in the fact that neither was alone anymore. Maybe eventually things would be peaceful again, and tonight had restored a tiny bit of hope for the future.


End file.
